'Of course I didn't expect this.'
I stared at the two figures facing each other, ready to fight—two people who clearly had no reason to be connected. No interaction in the novel, no acquaintance of any kind, yet here they were, clashing. I meant Nicholas and Regman the Necromancer.
Sera sat beside me, relaxed—as if she enjoyed the spectacle. If this were a cinema, she'd have popcorn in hand, savoring every moment.
"You're letting them fight, Noona?" I whispered.
"Let them be. And call me Sera, remember?" she replied.
"Fine… Sera. I'm wondering what was the reason you left the castle earlier?"
"Oh, I got an alert beforehand about the wyverns. Didn't you get one?"
"An alert? What do you mean?"
"Like a yellow system window floating in front of you—wait, you don't have one?" Sera whispered.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was that real? It sounded like a cheesy fantasy trope—a system window. Was it only transmigrants like her who received it? Unfair, but I didn't press it. I wasn't exactly hoping for my system pop-up.
"More important—look, Keith. The fight's almost over."
I turned back to Regman and Nicholas. Regman had already conjured something terrible and coal-black: skeletal limbs and bones crawling up from the ground. Nicholas was surfing on a ribbon of living water he'd shaped, dodging the onslaught.
'Nicholas, why is he's so cool?'
The necromancer moved to stop him, and a colossal hand of bone materialized, its skeletal fingers clawing. A deafening crack split the air, flinging Nicholas backward, and the rough earth scraped against his skin as he crashed to the ground.
"What? What happened?"
"Hahaha… is that it, blond boy? Is that the best you've got? You think intermediate-level spells can break me?" Regman crowed, proud and mocking. He raised a hand, and a black circle shimmered into being, spewing something horrific—ghouls stitched together from corpses.
"Ghoul," Sera murmured. "As expected from Regman. This fight lasted less than five minutes."
"Sera, isn't that bad?" I asked.
Nicholas struggled to stand, but a moment later, he was slammed into the stone wall.
He then formed another circle, and the subsequent attack struck Regman hard; however, it barely affected him, feeling like a mere splash across his chest.
Without meaning to, I crept forward, desperate to help Nicholas.
"Relax, Keith," Nicholas said, looking at me. "I wasn't even trying."
He inhaled deeply—and in the next heartbeat he vanished.
'What?'
He didn't vanish so much as become water: he flowed into the ground as if swimming through earth, then suddenly reappeared behind Regman. He shattered Regman's death-creatures; the ghouls turned on their summoner.
"Advanced water magic art: Water Vortex!" he cried.
Nicholas's whirl of water-magic roared through the cavern. The gusts shook the hideout; grit and bone dust stung my eyes. When my vision cleared, Regman lay motionless.
'Is it over?'
Nicholas wiped sweat from his brow, flashed me a triumphant thumbs-up—and then everything went black.
Darkness spread from Regman's still form, consuming the room. When my eyes adjusted, Nicholas slumped against the wall, and Regman's appearance had changed: no longer the wizened corpse, he was young again—smooth-faced, terrifyingly clean and cocky.
"This is infuriating! This brat forced me to do this. He ruined my opportunity to transfer into Keith's body—darn it!" Regman roared, brandishing anger like a weapon.
I watched, horrified, as he kicked Nicholas in the gut, sending him sprawling. "Because of you! Because of you, damn you! I have to use this to restore myself… but fine, given all the corpses outside I can gather more—dark essence…"
"Nick!"
I rushed forward, but skeletal chains erupted and bound my arms and legs tight.
"You stay put! I'm not done with you, Keith!" Regman snarled.
He stalked past me—not toward me, but toward Sera, who was still sitting calmly, her face completely unbothered.
"You! I know your face. Didn't I curse you with eternal slumber? How are you even awake?"
"Curious?" Sera smirked.
Something black lashed out, dragging her into his grip. His hand closed around her throat.
"Sera!! Regman, let her go!"
My shouts went unheard. He only stared at her with a twisted grin.
"If the curse won't hold, maybe I'll just kill you instead…"
"Urghh—" Sera groaned, writhing in his grasp.
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
I strained, the skeletal bindings unyielding. Agony flared in my exposed wound. Helpless, I saw black energy engulf Sera, her form writhing. Veins, like inky rivers, mapped her skin as Regman cackled, triumphant.
"Noona…"
Then—
"What—?!"
Regman's voice shattered. I stared—and froze. Sera smiled, a predatory curve to her lips.
She licked them. "Thanks for the meal."
A shockwave slammed into Regman, flinging him away.
Sera dusted her gown and rubbed at the redness on her throat. "Fool. Leaving marks on my neck like that without permission…"
She walked over and effortlessly shattered my bone restraints.
"What… what the hell was that, No—Sera?! You can use the same black energy as Regman?"
"Dark essence," she corrected. "I can absorb it. Step back, Keith. There's something I want to try."
Regman staggered up, his eyes wide. "Impossible… what are you?!"
"You could say you're my teacher, Regman. So let me thank my teacher properly."
Dark spirits surged at his command—the raging souls of Triwheel's slaughtered villagers. Twisted phantoms howled, rushing toward Sera.
"Lucky me. Someone else created corpses for me. I don't know why, but now I'm unstoppable," Regman gloated.
'Damn it… there are too many!'
But Sera only looked unimpressed. "So the wyvern wasn't your doing? You didn't lure it with your dark essence?"
"Of course not! But the spoils are mine now! Hiyahhh!"
The dark spirits lunged.
"No! Sera, watch out!"
But she didn't move. Instead, her body exuded a darkness so deep it was suffocating—as though death itself had taken form.
I swallowed hard, my chest heavy just looking at her.
"Whatever you can do…" Sera smiled coldly, "…I can do too."
Regman's eyes went wide. The very spirits he had summoned turned against him, bound under Sera's will.
"What—what have you done?!"
"Now… why don't you all rid me of this man?" Sera ordered.
The spirits obeyed, a swirling mass that descended upon Regman. His face, now ashen, contorted in a silent scream. He thrashed, but it was futile.
A sickening crunch echoed as they tore into him, the air thick with the metallic tang of blood. His essence, a shadowy black, vanished as they greedily absorbed it, leaving behind only an empty husk.
Sera purified and transformed the spirits into peaceful souls under her command before they faded into the ether. One even smiled at her, whispering thanks.
'This is insane.'
I still couldn't believe what I'd just seen. The truth about Sera von Helming—the necromancer who surpassed Regman—was terrifying.
"You alright?" Sera asked, freeing me from the last of the bones.
"I'm fine. But more importantly… Sera, you just used dark essence, didn't you?"
She approached, adjusting her now-tattered gown.
"Erm… Sera? What are you doing now?"
"Making things look convincing."
"Convincing? What do you mean?"
She didn't answer, only gave me a long look before shifting her gaze toward the cave entrance—and Nicholas.
"Just a hunch."
Moments later, I heard a familiar voice from outside. "Keith!!"
It was Leyla, with Xerta and Solum rushing behind her.
"Sera!" Xerta called, jogging over. Immediately, Sera put on a sad, tearful expression.
Her ability to change faces so quickly was incredible. Behind Leyla, I also noticed Epsilon staring at me in shock.
"You're actually okay," he said, then looked away.
"Disappointed?" I teased.
"Idiot," he muttered, though with an obvious note of relief.
I desperately wanted to run to him and collapse into his arms, but my legs refused to cooperate.
"What really happened, Sera? Where were you?" Xerta asked.
"I—I was kidnapped… hic… His Grace Nicholas tracked me down, but the necromancer was too strong…" She glanced at Nicholas, still slumped unconscious.
"Then Keith came and saved us. He defeated Regman heroically, though he was injured in the process."
Her eyes flicked to the blood seeping through my bandages, making me squirm.
'She's… giving me all the credit?!'
"I was so scared, but Keith came and rescued me." She smiled sweetly. "He's truly a hero."
'Don't give them the wrong idea!'
Nicholas stirred slowly, opening his eyes. "Where's Regman…? Hff…"
"Nicholas, Your Grace, are you alright?" Leyla asked.
"What happened? Where's Regman?"
"Keith defeated him. Isn't that right, Keith?" Leyla looked at me, eyes shining.
The truth? I hadn't defeated him—I'd nearly died. There was no way a swordsman like me could have done all that to Regman. But somehow, they believed it so easily.
Before I could deny it, Sera came over and hugged me tightly.
"Thank you, Keith…"
Everyone froze in surprise.
I stiffened, glancing nervously around, but Sera poked at my hand, urging me to respond.
"Uh… you're welcome."
I patted her head awkwardly.
Three people in the group looked distinctly unhappy about that, but I ignored them.
'Right now, I'm more afraid of Sera than anyone else. If they saw what she just did… they'd feel the same.'